Legal Mystery Suspense

Sebastian Rudd, rogue lawyer, defends people other lawyers won't go near. It's controversial and dangerous work, which is why Sebastian needs his bodyguard/assistant/sidekick: Partner. So if Sebastian is just about the most unpopular lawyer in town, why is Partner so loyal to him? How did they meet? And what's the real story of this man of few words who's as good with a gun as he is with the law? The surprising answers are all in PARTNERS, John Grisham's first exclusively digital short story.

David Wolfe's life is approaching an exhilarating peak: he's a successful San Francisco lawyer, he's about to get married, and he's being primed for a run for Congress. But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif—the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school—he begins a completely unexpected journey. The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco; soon, Hana herself is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice.

Josie Baylor-Bates has a full plate caring for a troubled teen, but it's about to get fuller when her ex-cop lover, Archer, is accused of murdering his disabled stepson - a son Josie never knew he had. When Timothy Wren died at California's oldest amusement park, it appeared to be a tragic accident. But now Timothy's biological father and the district attorney are out for blood. Josie races against time to prove someone is framing Archer.

Jim Walker is a lawyer – one of the best – and he's the type who doesn't need to practice much law to make a client's problems disappear. He's a fixer who enjoys the finer things in life, until someone fixes him for good at a posh party in one of Atlanta's swankiest mansions.

Mary DiNunzio gets a terrifying telephone call while she's working late, then goes home to find a shadow lurking at her front door. When a lawyer close to her turns up dead, Mary begins to suspect that the case she's been working on, involving the suicide of an Italian-American in an internment camp during World War II, may not be ancient history after all.

Now that attorney Jason Rich has returned home to Guntersville, Alabama, the “In an accident? Get rich!” lawyer is anxious to leave his checkered past behind. Jason hopes this next chapter in his life will be a chance to confront his personal troubles while making amends with his family. But when a former high school football star stands accused of killing a police officer, Jason is unwillingly thrust into the chaos.

Night club owner Rick Cowan approaches criminal defense attorney Tex Hunter and presents an offer Hunter can't refuse. But Rick Cowan isn't a regular client. He isn't faultless, he isn't friendly, and he isn't clean—his past is littered with violence, agony, and decades of fraudulent behavior. Cowan claims he's innocent of the felony drug charges and has been set up from the inside, but the evidence against him continues to mount.

First published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number one best seller in America, and was subsequently turned into the successful and now classic Otto Preminger film. It is is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popular novels of our time. A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a sensational trial, Anatomy of a Murder is unmatched in the authenticity of its settings, events, and characters.

Hunting Jack Reacher is a dangerous business, as FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are about to find out. Otto and Gaspar are by-the-book hunters who know when to break the rules; Reacher is a wanted man, and a stone cold killer when things get personal. But is he friend or enemy? Armed with disinformation, they intend to find out. Only the secrets hidden in Margrave, Georgia, will tell them.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Attorney Jack Newlin comes home one evening to find his wife dead on the floor. Convinced that he knows who killed her, and determined to hide the truth, Jack decides to make it look as though he committed the felony. Before calling the police, he stages the crime, so that the evidence incriminates him. And to hammer the final nail in his own coffin, he hires Mary Di Nunzio, a reluctant rookie and the most inexperienced lawyer he can find, at a hot Philadelphia firm.

Defense lawyer Cass Leary never backs down from a case. Though after her latest high-profile courtroom win, the ex-mafia attorney thinks she's finally earned a little rest and relaxation. But when her paralegal begs her to defend a potentially innocent man who was convicted of homicide, she puts vacation on hold to fight for justice. With the convicted killer now terminally ill and behind bars, Cass digs deeper despite the whole town resisting her at every turn.

Cass is a force in the courtroom. Determined to keep the innocent out of jail, the unyielding defense attorney dominates her opponents to balance the scales of justice. But in a terrible twist of fate, she’s forced to testify against the man she loves when he’s accused of killing his estranged wife.

A young woman is haunted by two murders that are closely linked -- despite the 110 years that separate them.

Following the breakup of her marriage and her pursuit by an obsessed stalker, criminal defense attorney Emily Graham accepts an offer to work in a major Manhattan law firm. Feeling a need for roots, she buys her ancestral home in New Jersey, which her family sold in 1892, after the disappearance of young Madeline Shapley, one of Emily's forebears.

Avery Keene, a brilliant young law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, is doing her best to hold her life together - excelling in an arduous job with the court while also dealing with a troubled family. When the shocking news breaks that Justice Wynn - the cantankerous swing vote on many current high-profile cases - has slipped into a coma, Avery’s life turns upside down. She is immediately notified that Justice Wynn has left instructions for her to serve as his legal guardian and power of attorney.

When a desperate woman comes to Daniel Pitt seeking a lawyer for her boyfriend, Rob Adwell, Daniel is convinced of the young man’s innocence. Adwell has been accused of murder and of setting a fire to conceal the body, but Daniel is sure science can absolve him - and Miriam fford Croft is the best scientist he knows. Miriam connects Daniel with her former teacher Sir Barnabas Saltram, an expert in arson, and together, they reveal Adwell’s innocence by proving that an accidental fire caused the victim’s death. But it’s not long before Adwell is killed in the same fiery fashion.

Jack Dillard—son of Joe—is a criminal defense attorney reeling in the wake of the ordeals he’s endured the last few years. He’s lost and angry, especially because the family reputation his parents built is in tatters. Though not entirely his fault, he blames himself. When Jack is approached by a young podcaster who’s passionate about a convicted murderer’s innocence, he’s hesitant to get involved. But the case intrigues him, so Jack reluctantly agrees to assist.

A gripping, poignant, and masterful courtroom novel, The Best Defense is a major work from one of America's most popular writers.

Jessie Black's successful prosecution of a serial murderer and rapist put her on the path to stardom at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Public defender Jack Ackerman represented the opposition, and his spectacular public breakdown after the trial put him in a mental institution and gave Frank Ramsey a second chance at freedom. When Ramsey petitions the court for a new trial with a claim that Ackerman was ineffective, Black must step up to defend him.

When San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy gets a call saying his wife never picked the kids up from school, he's worried. Frannie's a great mother. Turns out there's a good explanation: She's in jail. Unbeknownst to her husband, Frannie has just appeared before a grand jury - and refused to share a crucial piece of information about her friend Ron, who's accused of killing his wife.